June 9, 2013

I still remember the first time I made Rasugulla and was happily letting everyone know that I made it successfully. It is an easy Indian sweet that can be made effortlessly. This time I'm preparing about 3 dozens for a "Women's Brunch Get-together", yuppy gonna have fun with my friends. I prepared this reducing some sugar for this party. (We girls watch calories you know..he...he..he..;) ).

The best part you will love while making rasugulla's is seeing them double the size after getting it cooked - kinda magic :). For the ingredients below we get approximately 12 to 15 medium sized rasugulla's. Check "My Notes" at the end for some tips related to this preparation.

Ingredients:

Whole Milk - 6 cups

Lemon juice - 3 tablespoons

Curd - 2 tablespoons

Sugar - 2 cups

Water - 4 cups

Cardamon powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Cloves - 1 no

Method:

Mix curd and lemon juice together in a bowl. Boil milk, when it starts to foam and raise, reduce the flame to medium and add curd-lemon juice mix and keep stirring. The milk starts curdling and whey separates, keep stirring until you get clear whey. Switch off the stove.

Spread a muslin cloth/cheese cloth(Make sure its big enough to get tied up) and drain the curdled milk. Now bring the edges of the cloth together and immerse it(up and down
process) in a bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water. Slightly rub the
bag so that it releases the lemon juice flavor and bring the curdled
milk together to a ball. Squeeze water well and tie the bag.

Now on a flat plate, first place the sack, then a tawa or plate and
finally some heavy weight. This helps to squeeze all excess water. Let it sit for 1 hour without any disturbance. Remove the paneer and place it on a flat surface. Scramble and knead using your palm for 10 minutes. You can feel the paneer getting soft. Make them to equal-sized balls by rolling in your hand.

In a pressure cooker(Wide enough) boil sugar and water. When bubbles starts to form, add Cardamon powder, clove and paneer balls(one by one) slowly and pressure cook for 1 whistle. After a whistle, reduce the flame to low and let it heat for another 5 minutes. Switch off and let the pressure come down.

We can see the rasugulla's doubled in their size. Replace the rasugullas carefully to another bowl, cool down completely. Refrigerate for 2 hours minimum before serving(I refrigerated it for a whole night).

My Notes:

Wash the paneer well to avoid lemon taste in rasugullas.

Squeeze the maximum to drain the water and then place a weight.

You can use the whey water for making chappathi batter.

Kneading the dough is a very important step to get the rasugullas soft.

My friend's mother suggested to add a teaspoon of maida and stir after kneading the paneer. This helps rasugulla's to be a bit firm and withstands its round shape.

If you feel the paneer is very much drained or is not binding while making balls, then drizzle some drops of water alone and knead again.

Please make sure to use a wide cooker or pan as rasugulla's expand after cooking.

Do replace rasugulla's to another bowl after cooking to avoid over heating.

We can also prepare them in a large pan by simply closing them for 10 to 15 minutes after paneer balls are added.

When rasugullas are cooked they are extremely soft but will get firm after refrigerating.

very well explained, Divya. You would have been great as a teacher !! :) And hey..do drop by my "pick quicks" blog (non-foodie one) if u are in for some hearty laugh. Hope u will be a follower there as well.

Divya, your post is flooded with comments. This speaks how we all loved your step by step instructions of the recipe. Rasgullas look super soft, spongy and so presentable. I am sure they must have been a hit in your party!

I have never tried a Rasugulla before and this sounds like a delicate and delicious treat. Boy, there are quite a few steps to make these Rasugulla. But I love how smooth and fluffy it looks. Must be nice biting into one. :)

The process looks lengthy because of many pic's(you know step by step explanation)...This is very simple, half the process of making some home made cheese and rest just kneading and rolling...this is a soft dessert and lovely to chew..Thank you amy

Wow, Divya! Your step by step guide tutorial is really nice and helpful. I had once tried making them and they came out so hard that I never even think of making it again. This wonderful post, however, is now tempting me to give it a go once more. Your rasgullas look perfect and fluffy, wish I could pick one right away :)

Hi Neeta,No problem with packet or raw milk until you used full cream milk, because that gives you more of paneer. The water would not have drained enough that is the reason rasugullas becomes flat after cooking(as you meant spreading), that is also another reason it becomes chewy...keeping good weight for 1 hour solid helps us to drain perfect amount of water. Did you knead for 10 minutes very well, you can feel the softness of paneer once done. It did not work out for me the first time, i did learn from my mistakes, am also a person like you who keeps trying...so please try again and am sure you will get them perfect.

Ms.Divya,Thanks for a wonderful récipe for rasugullas. My mom is a big fan of this dessert. Living in Central America and having Haldiram's or whichever tinned rasugulla is not the same as the ones that come in the clay pots and she was accustomed to having in New Delhi or in Calcutta (yes I said Calcutta, not Kolkata. BTW it is Bombay in my view, not Mumbai, maybe one day I'll change and accept the name change; emphasis on MAYBE. Sorry for getting off subject. Couple of questions:What syrup do you serve the rasugullas in; is it simple sugar or do you add rose water, cardamom, pistachios or anything else to it? and(and this is a major one)Any way to make this in something besides a pressure cooker. Not very fond ofusing them; actually, due to past experiences in my family, I am pretty frightened to use a pressure cooker and it becomes a huge deal-breaker for me.Thanks again for a wonderful récipe.Vinod

I know how it feels when we or our loved one are addicted to particular food and unfortunately we make them eat packed items knowing the truth about packed foods. it will be a pleasure when we try and treat them homemade...am here to help you with any queries...hope the below answers your questions.1. Sugar and water is the syrup. I added Cardamon, clove to enrich the flavor. If you wish to add rose syrup add few drops to the syrup while boiling. Nuts are for decorations, but if you wish you can fill them inside paneer balls too(i am yet to try that version).2. Pressure cooker is no way needed. you can simply use a wide pan or wide pot. it should be wide enough as rasugullas expand. the procedure is same until dropping paneer balls. once they are dropped cover the pot and cook it for around 7 to 10 minutes on medium flame. when the size doubles they are done.